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Yup. Means testing is one of this things that fools people - it sounds good, but in practice is wildly bad at what it’s trying to do, and can be borderline evi

Yup. Means testing is one of this things that fools people - it sounds good, but in practice is wildly bad at what it’s trying to do, and can be borderline evil. Beyond the bureaucracy dimension - means testing puts up a barrier, not at the top, but everywhere. Adding “one more thing” to people who are already struggling can be disproportionally difficult for them to meet, and therefore cause them to miss out on benefits they are completely entitled to. Additionally, it can create incentives for behavior you would otherwise be completely pathological, such as divorcing your sick spouse because as a couple you don’t qualify for support, but individually they do.

zimpenfish 1y ago
> it sounds good, but in practice is wildly bad at what it’s trying to do, and can be borderline evil. The UK's DWP is a good example (and I'd suggest they crossed the border a long time ago into evil.) * https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-68727007 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-68727007 * https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20nrv02vz1o https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20nrv02vz1o * https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-67704644 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-6770464... * https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-52500385 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-525003... * https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51756783 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51756783 That's just a simple BBC search - going through Private Eye, for example, would bring up a lot more.
- spwa4 1y ago
  Yeah the UK seems to be sprinting towards becoming a third world country with massive inequality just to protect the government's own spending power and of course completely accidentally, the wealth of the rich. There's "Gary's economics" discussing it, even though the usual economic comment somehow seems to escape him. (that would be "what about creative destruction" btw)
FireBeyond 1y ago
> incentives for behavior you would otherwise be completely pathological, such as divorcing your sick spouse We do live in the only country in the developed world where “deathbed divorce” is a thing to try to ensure your surviving spouse doesn’t get crippled by medical debt, so there is that…
Aurornis 1y ago
> Means testing is one of this things that fools people - it sounds good, but in practice is wildly bad at what it’s trying to do, and can be borderline evil. These non-specific appeals to emotion aren’t very convincing when we’re discussing a topic where we’re already collecting tax returns for the same people collecting social security.

zimpenfish 1y ago

> it sounds good, but in practice is wildly bad at what it’s trying to do, and can be borderline evil. The UK's DWP is a good example (and I'd suggest they crossed the border a long time ago into evil.) * https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-68727007 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-68727007 * https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20nrv02vz1o https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20nrv02vz1o * https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-67704644 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-6770464... * https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-52500385 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-525003... * https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51756783 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51756783 That's just a simple BBC search - going through Private Eye, for example, would bring up a lot more.

spwa4 1y ago
Yeah the UK seems to be sprinting towards becoming a third world country with massive inequality just to protect the government's own spending power and of course completely accidentally, the wealth of the rich. There's "Gary's economics" discussing it, even though the usual economic comment somehow seems to escape him. (that would be "what about creative destruction" btw)

FireBeyond 1y ago

> incentives for behavior you would otherwise be completely pathological, such as divorcing your sick spouse We do live in the only country in the developed world where “deathbed divorce” is a thing to try to ensure your surviving spouse doesn’t get crippled by medical debt, so there is that…

Aurornis 1y ago

> Means testing is one of this things that fools people - it sounds good, but in practice is wildly bad at what it’s trying to do, and can be borderline evil. These non-specific appeals to emotion aren’t very convincing when we’re discussing a topic where we’re already collecting tax returns for the same people collecting social security.